TORONTO, Ont. – TTC CEO Andy Byford apologized publicly for Monday’s evening rush hour commute that was plagued with delays.
Byford explained the delays in a YouTube video Tuesday.
Watch the video
The delays were caused by several reports of smoke at track level, a door opening while the train was in a tunnel near Dupont station and number of passenger assistance alarms, including one following an assault. Toronto police confirmed to 680News that three people were arrested at Bloor-Yonge station in connection to the assault.
The incident at Dupont caused a 24-minute delay.
“Just as evening peak was building we had two fire alerts — one at Eglinton, one at Keele station. In such circumstances, we put safety first. We don’t take any risks,” Byford said in the video.
Byford also discussed the TTC’s first-ever customer charter.
“Key to that improvement is increased reliability and punctuality of the service and clearly, we didn’t meet that objective last night so once again I am sorry for the delays last night,” he said.
“I appreciate it was a frustrating trip home.”
TTC Chair Karen Stintz told CityNews that it was a series of issues occurring simultaneously and admitted mistakes were made in the management of the issues.
“Events happen. We need to manage them better. We need to communicate more effectively and so we’ve taken a lot of lessons from this experience and how we can better manage these kinds of events,” she said.
A number of social media users wondered if Byford used a green screen for his video.
TTC spokesperson Brad Ross said it was filmed at Bloor-Yonge station on the northbound platform.
On Monday night, many frustrated TTC riders took to social media to vent their frustrations.
Oh the humanity! #ttc twitter.com/ddkto/status/3…
— David de Koning (@ddkto) March 19, 2013
Very difficult to be an advocate of public transit on days like today. I’m lookin your way, @ttcupdate #TTC #toronto
— Victor Genova (@VicGenova) March 18, 2013
Subway power outage!Not impressed #ttc not impressed at all.
— Melissa Martin (@KeroGenki) March 18, 2013
After reading all the #ttc tweets thus far,glad I had the day off.Though tomorrow will be another chapter of the Lives of #TTC Commuters.
— Lyn (@Marked_one) March 18, 2013
heyyooooo an hour and a half to get home. it should take no longer than half hour & that’s with a stop at the store. #ttcfail #ttc #awful
— amber! (@ermahgerd_amber) March 18, 2013
The #ttcin the dt core during rush hour is a true test of patience! 60 mins after going in the subway I’m still waiting & now walking home
— Marcel Watier (@TorontoHabsfan) March 18, 2013
Dear #TTC: pls stop announcing ‘medical emerg’ on my stuck subway when there is 0 evidence of 1. #justwannagohome
— Deborah Smith-Webber (@dsmithweb) March 18, 2013
That was fun. Was stuck in a dark subway tunnel for 20 minutes with the lights out due to power failure. #TTC #FirstWorldProblems
— Adnan (@sens_adnan) March 18, 2013
TTC = Take The Car. #ttc
— Tom Kerigan (@tomkerigan) March 18, 2013
@ttcing #ttc surfing 101… Feet shoulder width apart, doiminant foot towards direction of travel shift weight slightly back….Have fun
— THE T O B(@gts880318) March 18, 2013
Literally just spent an HOUR inside the subway because of all the delays.. #notimpressed #ttc
— Alex Peebee (@alexpeebee) March 18, 2013
Enjoying the driver’s comments as subway is holding at Rosedale. Frustrated a few stops ago, he is now encouraging riders to mingle. #TTC
— Angela Nelson-Heesch (@anelsonheesch) March 18, 2013
#Fact: it’s the #TTC’s inconsistency and unpredictability that make it consistent and predictable
— Liam Lahey (@LiamLahey) March 18, 2013
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This video and 3 bucks will get me a medium at Starbucks….. no value here.
Fires are usually caused by debris on the tracks. Guess where that debris comes from.. PASSENGERS.! Passenger assistance alarms are activated by guess who? PASSENGERS! What is so hard to understand that majority of delays underground are caused by… PASSENGERS! And THEY are the ones that get upset about the delays! Blame your fellow riders people!
The apology is appreciated. Sometimes there are circumstances out of anyone’s control. It certainly seems like they are trying to improve the public image of the TTC. I for one have been sick of their perceived ‘entitlement’ to our business no matter how terrible the service over the past few years.
(not to say that there aren’t dedicated, hard-working TTC employees, but when the few that obviously do not fall into that camp are allowed to keep their jobs, it tarnishes the entire institution)
Kudos to Mr. Byford.
Criticize the TTC all you want, some of the problems are caused by inconsiderate passengers.
And on the other hand, they want more people out of their car and using the TTC.
THE TTC ‘S SERVICE IS GETTING WORST & WORST , IN THE PAST 4 YEARS I HAVE NOTICED A VERY STEADY DECLINE IN SERVICES. YET WHEN THEY DEMAND A RAISE IN WAGES THE CITY JUMPS !!!!! WE BEND OVER FOR THEM WHEN EVER THEY DEMAND IT …… I REALLY HOPE THE GOVERNMENT STEPS IN …….. NEXT TIME THEY DEMAND A RAISE SAY NO !!!!
THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THESE TYPES OF JOBS…….. IMPOSE A SALARY FREEZE FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS.
MOST EMPLOYEES OF THE TTC DON’T CARE ABOUT THEIR JOBS U COULD SEE IT IN THEIR FACES……. THEIR JUST IN IT FOR THE SECURITY .
Wow. I’m so glad I boycotted the ttc last year after a similar incident. Not as bad as this but bad enough for my commute from union to eglinton which then took 1.5 hours. The doors didn’t open and the power never went out but it was still extremely annoying to have to stand in a packed subway car not knowing what is going on.
Nothing but Union troublemakers causing these problems. Mir Kinnear is on top of TTC.
Do you have evidence of these troublemakers or are you simply spouting off because of your hatred of unions? My money is on the latter.
My story won’t fit in a tweet, so have a comment.
Got on a sub at Spadina only to have the lights go out and announcements indicated that they had no idea when power might get restored or why it was gone. There was mention of shuttles, so I tried upstairs and staff said my best bet would be walking to Bloor/Yonge. Walked there just in time to encounter one of many passenger assistance alarm trains. Before I realized it, I was surrounded by a crowd of onlookers gawking at someone struggling while someone else held them in place. I’m not stupid enough to crowd closer while assholes are fighting, so I pushed way out of the crowd only to have a group of teens run out of the struggle directly at me with numerous police chasing them. What fun!
The foot chase disappeared into the sunset, so I waited for the next 5 or so trains to come and go (each one packed too tight to hold anyone new) and overheard from a TTC janitor that this was apparently the fourth arrest made at that station in the last hour. Meanwhile, more and more announcements were made about new power outages and assistance alarms activated elsewhere on the subway lines.
The whole thing felt like some over-complicated casino heist centered around putting the TTC at a standstill, so I’m still waiting for the announcement that a renowned super-thief stole the ROM while everyone was distracted.
I remember one week last year with two “fire” emergencies in one week. Both incidents delayed the subway more than 30 minutes and ended-up walking to Spadina to take the streetcar. Both commute times were 1 hour 30 minutes long for the return trips.
Though, it is not always TTC’s fault. There are a lot of stupid people acting recklessly or just dropping dead all over the transit system. I’ve seen a woman faint on the platform as the train was closing the doors. Even though she was on the platform they had to stop the entire subway system.